Colorado research team gathers information on January's storm

The team hopes to understand why and when people took cover and how the warning process can be improved in the future. (Source: WALB)

The rain-wrapped tornado that caused extensive damage in Albany on January, 22. (Source: Live Storms Media)

Researcher Jennifer Henderson hopes her team will have a full report complete within the next six months. (Source: WALB)

ALBANY, GA (WALB) -

A team of researchers from Colorado are trying to determine how information was delivered and received during January's storms.

The researchers are part of the VORTEX-Southwest project and the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

The team from the University of Colorado-Boulder spent time talking to local meteorologists and the National Weather Service.

They leaned how meteorologists used broadcasting, social media and other warning practices to communicate risk to the community before and during the tornado outbreak.

They also spoke with local emergency managers and community members affected by the storm.

The team hopes to learn how the community perceives risk and analyze their responses during a tornado threat.

"What is it that makes people want to respond? If we know those things we could tailor some of our information, dissemination to those tactics. We are hoping to connect this back to the operations, forecasters and emergency managers," said research scientist Dr. Jennifer Henderson

Once the research is complete, meteorologists and emergency managers should have a better idea of how to communicate more effectively with the community during severe weather.